The interior appearance of an automobile is but one consideration when purchasing a vehicle. Interiors are often given treatments that provide an increase in perceived value while allowing a person to differentiate one manufacturer from another. Efforts to reduce costs by removing even the most seemingly insignificant interior details have been met with adverse reactions from consumers.
Current interiors trend towards fluid, wrap-around styling. Hard angular metal and plastic surfaces have been replaced by softer, rounded, padded or cushioned surfaces covered by various textiles. The inner panel of a vehicle door, or the side towards the passenger compartment, is one area that typically receives treatment.
Generally, a vehicle door is constructed by welding inner and out panels together to form the door. A cavity defined by the inner and outer panels houses a window track for raising and lowering a window and a latch mechanism for opening and closing the door. A motor and a window regulator may also be housed when a vehicle is equipped with power windows. Similarly, a lock and a solenoid may also be housed when a vehicle is equipped with power door locks. Likewise, a side impact bar may be housed.
A treatment is placed over the inner panel of the door to provide a finished appearance, hiding the track, latch mechanism, motor, window regulator, lock, solenoid, side impact bar, etc. The treatment of an inner door panel typically includes a plurality of separate components with each component having a separate function. The components often include a door trim panel, sound absorber, water barrier, armrest, map pocket closeout, side impact blocks, etc. Switches mounted in a switch bezel for controlling the operation of the motor and solenoid may also be attached to the door trim panel. A map pocket may also be attached to the door trim panel.
The components are typically assembled together and attached to an inner door panel by several different conventional processes including adhesives, heat staking, sonic welding, fasteners, etc. While such conventional processes may provide a desired appearance and functionality, the use of such conventional processes introduce their own drawbacks. For instance, the use of multiple components increases costs. Further, the components require assembly adding numerous steps to the assembly process. Moreover, the use of multiple components results in a comparatively heavy door trim panel, thereby increasing the weight of a vehicle.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a door trim panel that integrates various components without significantly increased cost or complicated assembly and with reduced weight.